Revenge of a Blonde Assassin
by Paradise Fairy
Summary: Ten years ago the war had ended. Fairy Tail had disbanded. Lucy Heartfilia is a part of a new elite group of assassins harboring children from the revolution. With her heart tainted darkness, she wants nothing more than to dye her blade red. Red with the blood of Fairy Tail but when a mission goes wrong and she ends up in the care of a bunch of inn keepers, will her blade dull or..
1. Chapter 1

**Some Items to note:**

This story takes place during the meiji era.

Fairy Tail (a highly dangerous assassin group) played a part in bringing about this change.

This story is loosely based of off Rurouni Kenshin and Nikita (The TV Series).

References may be drawn from Japanese History but I pretty much suck in this field so I'm not adverse to getting some guidance and making a whole bunch of stuff up cuz it's fun.

 **Disclaimer applied**. Don't own Fairy Tail and will never own em.

This is merely fan fiction/entertainment.

This story is rated M for probable sex scenes, cursing, violence and killing. Don't like? Well, you're free to click the little back arrow. No pressure. With that being said, I hope you guys enjoy the story and off course post your thoughts about it. You can even tell me some stuff you might wanna see. Updates will be posted once each week, preferably on a Tuesday fan fiction time. There will be errors but who cares we're all about enjoying the show, eh!

* * *

 **Full Summary:** Ten years ago the war had ended and Fairy Tail, an elite group of assassins whom brought the feudal era to an end, disbanded. Lucy Heartfilia is a part of a new elite group of assassins harboring children from the revolution. With her heart tainted darkness, she wants nothing more than to dye her blade red. Red with the blood of Fairy Tail but when a mission goes wrong and she ends up in the care of a bunch of inn keepers, will her blade dull or will the mysterious secrets surrounding these strangers especially the pink haired bastard whom won't leave her alone destroy the bits of pieces remaining of this thing called a heart.

* * *

Chapter 1

It's raining again.

Brown eyes lowered and she tightened her grip on her sheathed swords, which rested idly against her left shoulder.

She hated the rain yet it continued to pour and pour, beating roughly on the leaves above, soaking all of the varying plants, grass and insects. It felt cold too. A droplet of water slid down her cheek.

For as long as she could remember, almost every time she killed someone within the last three months, it always rained. Almost like the world understood, no, could feel her pain, as if it cried for her — which was preposterous. The world couldn't feel her pain. No one could feel her pain for if they did then it wouldn't have allowed her to become what she had become.

She had never wanted to kill anyone. In fact she had once pictured herself as a writer. However, everything had came crashing down on that cruel, cruel day when people dressed in black had stormed her mansion and killed both her mother and father in front of her. Her family were rich, apart of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Back then a war had been brewing and no one knew who to trust. Her family had been on the losing side.

The side that had wanted change and hence had eliminated any and everyone that had stand in their way had won.

The blonde craved the day she could have her revenge. Not only had she lost her childhood but she had lost her happiness and innocence too becoming someone cold-hearted and dead. The only reason she lived was to have revenge. She remembered hiding beneath the basement, she remembered the servant who held her, praying to kami-sama that the secret room wouldn't be discovered and she could remember as clear as day the cries, the slicing of metal in the air as they murdered everyone. She could remember it all and it hurt. She squeezed her swords tighter as her eyes narrowed darkly. She would make them pay. All of them.

The servant, Virgo, had raised her from then. The losing side had few members who survived. Those who had survived, especially children of the dead had vowed to have revenge and as such had been trained to become the best assassins this world had ever had.

Another drop of water landed on her cheek. Slowly, the blonde haired woman glanced up, eye lashes almost brushing against ivory cheeks. It had stopped raining. The dark clouds were rolling away now, revealing the sun. A sun so bright that it caused her to wince before her head lowered and she averted her attention to the ground.

She could see the ants beginning to crawl. It was time to return to headquarters. After all her mission had been completed. Two of those scums who had taken part in the raid were dead and she smirked in satisfaction as she rose.

The blonde slid her sword in the grey cloth like belt, which was tied around her waist. She was dressed in a blue kimono and there were a string around her neck which was attached to the side of a flat head, straw hat, which was behind her. Reaching her hands back, she grabbed hold of the hat before resting it on her head. Her hair was tied in a high ponytail with bangs resting on her forehead and two pieces at either side of her face, lying on her shoulders.

By the time, Lucy had reached the outskirts of a city by the name of Magnolia, she had felt her stomach growled. It was now a late Monday afternoon. People still bustle the streets. They all looked happy and at peace, as if the war hadn't happened ten years ago. The blonde gritted her teeth, glaring at the ground while she kept her head down. Just because their lives hadn't been ruined didn't mean they had to forget or act as if the war hadn't happened all those years ago. Thousands of people had lost their lives! People's happiness had been taken away from them!

Dropping her head some more before she could lash out, the blonde turned into a small kura-zukuri type house. It was full. Too full and if her stomach hadn't howled softly again she would have turned around. Selecting a small table in the corner of the crowded room, the blonde took a seat and waited for a waitress to appear.

In the meanwhile, she lowered her head. While it was permitted to be seen with a sword, it wasn't exactly permitted for a woman to have one. Though the war had changed the world for a quote better Japan, in the country of Fiore, it didn't mean women were equaled to men. In fact if someone had saw her, a woman, with a weapon, she was pretty sure she would do some time in jail and she smiled wickedly. That is if they could capture her.

"Good evening. I will be your waitress this evening. My name is Akame, how may I assist you, sir?"

With a deepened voice, Lucy responded, "Tea. Misao soup will be fine."

"Is that all, sir?"

"Hai."

Then the waitress was gone. Lucy tilted her head to the side and noticed the bounce in her steps. They were all fools if they thought this peace could last.

In a few minutes time the waitress soon returned with her order, setting it down on the table before bowing and exclaiming, 'Enjoy your meal, sir!'

Lucy brought the small mug to her mouth. A second later, she tipped her head to the side and regarded the woman with narrowed brown eyes and a deep, male like voice, "Thank you. That will be all."

The waitress blushed and bowed again before moving on to another table.

Finishing her meal as quietly as possible with her head bowed, the blonde felt someone slither past her. Briefly, their kimono slid against the side of her sitting body and her eyes lowered even more when she realized that said person had dropped a piece of parchment in front of her meal.

She was use to persons working for her organization giving her instructions in the weirdest of places.

Once flipped to the other side, the blonde read in a whisper, "Gildarts". After those words were more kanji which indicated where the man would be and at what time. Below all of this was one word which made her squeeze her mug of tea even tighter. 'Fairy Tail'

Gildarts was an ex member of the squad of trained assassings who had brought about peace to this country yet at the same time had took away her and dozens of others happiness. They were the ones responsible for what she had become and they would pay.

Night had slowly descended in a small town of Fiore called Edolas.

The streets barely contained its denizens and the overgrowth of trees from the houses guarded by wall shook with the breeze of the wind.

Four pairs of drunken feet stumbled alongside a bridge. This bridge was above a long, flowing river with vicious currents. The river was so long that rumored had it it basically stretched into another city. Not that the four drunken men would care. They were far too enchanted with their bottles and perverted chatter and laughter. Amongst them was a man with sleek red hair that was pulled back, who was dressed in a dark green kimono.

All of them had swords at their sides.

"Ah Gildarts, you must tell me the secret. How do you attract such beautiful women," one of the men with white messy hair laughed good naturedly. The others followed suit.

Placing a hand behind his red hair, Gildarts laughed again, "The booze. It's all in the booze, my dear friends."

"But honestly, Tokuto is the most beautiful geisha I have ever seen. It has been said she never smiles and yet you manage to make the impossible possible all within a few seconds. Surely the booze can't be all to it. You must tell me your secret so that I may woo Kagura." Another one in the group commented.

Once more everyone laughed.

The chatter continued even when they reached the other side of the bridge.

None of them noticed, behind them —on the other side, a woman in a black cloak glanced on.

Her eyes lowered as she made sure her ki was still invisible.

Clouds moved, standing in front of the moon. The wind howled viciously and when a few leaves fell to the ground, the blonde took off in a blur.

The men laughed again.

Wind knocked right passed one of them. The one with the white hair. The next second his laughter stopped. Soon blood squirted into the air as his head fell to the ground.

Gasps.

Everyone's eyes widened at the touch of the blood.

Gildarts was the first to take out his sword as he came out of his drunken stupor followed by the other two.

Standing in front of them was a person in a black cloak.

"Who the fuck are you!" yelled one of the men, frightened.

Gildart's eyes lowered as he realized he couldn't sense anything from this person. This was impossible. To completely hide one's ki was….

"What the fuck did you do!" yelled the other man and both of them took off, swords raised, running blindly to the figure.

"Shit. Wait!" It was too late.

The blur moved again. The other two men never got a chance to use their weapon for more blood splattered into the air before they fell to the floor, pooled in their own blood.

The red head brought his sword up just in time to deflect an attack.

"Tch. Ten years have obviously made you soft."

Gildart's eyes widened slightly. "Excuse me. Do I know you?"

"No, but there won't be any need since you will be dead." The figure with the strange deep voice moved again, swiping their sword from his right but he jumped back, into the air, before metal could meet with flesh.

The man remained calm as he assessed the figure which got into another stance, sheathing their sword.

"Listen-"

In a second the cloaked person was on him and he blocked the attack by bringing his sword above his head. But that didn't stop this enigma for they flipped back into the air, making sure their feet met with his chin. The attack sent him stumbling back just as the person landed.

This person was serious. He really was out to kill him and he decided he needed to act quick even though he had pledge never again to fight with this sword unless it were to protect. However, there was nothing to protect. His friends had just been brutally murdered. His face tightened. The least he could do was figure out why were they slaughtered. His sword left its sheath.

Soon swords clashed. Sparks flew. The next attack he sent was conducted so fast after his previous attack that it was impossible for the intruder to dodge as he roughly swung his blade upwards.

It should've been impossible yet the person managed to jump backwards. Pieces of material fluttered to the ground. Next second, the cloak was split in half. The hood fell off and in the night, where the moon peeked scantily from behind the clouds, blonde hair tied in a ponytail whirled with the wind.

His eyes widened slightly when he watched the front of this person's kimono from the upper part split into two, revealing breast bindings.

What the….

He never got a chance to finish his trail of thought for the person was on him, attacking viciously from every angle as he deflected it like they were nothing.

This person was a woman.

Her eyes were narrowed viciously. Her face beautiful but emotionless.

What the fuck was going on here?

A woman had just killed his drinking buddies like they were nothing and in an instant. There was only two other women he was aware of who could move as fast and as powerful as this and those two women, like him, had laid down their blades.

Beneath the moon, the fight continued for a few minutes longer.

"Gildarts-san!"

"Tch." The blonde haired woman sent a rough kick in his stomach, sending him trotting back by a few steps before turning around to attack the other eight men that had suddenly appeared. All of them at one point had been members of fairy tail yet the woman seemed to be defending and attacking all of them with such skill that Gildarts was left in awe. These were the people he were to meet up with not far from here to head to a brothel.

He watched in slight horror, as a blade cut through her shoulders and blood whipped viciously into the air. The next thing he knew more blood fled into the air as metal met with her ankle, the side of her stomach and the tip of a blade had even graze the side of her cheek.

She fell on one knee but brought her sword up to block an attack from one of his friends before she rolled to her side to avoid a stomp from another person.

She was panting now. Her instructions had never hinted there would be back up and all of these men were they fairy tail scum too. She gritted her teeth, glaring murderously. She wanted them all to die! Just die!

And she attacked them again even though it hurt. Her wounds ached and she seemed to be losing more blood with each second that passed. She didn't care though. It didn't matter how battered this body became, it didn't mater how many wounds and stabs she had to take she would kill them all. Every last one of the bastards who had killed her family!

Just die!

Droplets of blood landed on the floor. Her leg had taken another slice of metal. They had forced her to the bridge, cornering her from either side.

Her heart squeezed again. It couldn't end here. It just couldn't. Lucy held her sword tighter, glaring murderously at the men.

She gritted her teeth. There was only one thing left to do. Gildarts' eyes widened at the last second. "Wait!" But it was too late. The blonde samurai had already swung her blade several times, causing for cracks to appear all over the bridge. She hopped on top of the railing. With a silent glance, a plea for revenge, she jumped into the vicious river.

Gildarts growled lowly, "Damn it."

…

…

...

 _Flashback#1_

 _Within the darkness, the moon gleamed down on shattered houses and broken bones and puddles of blood. A sword dropped and hair as red as blood whipped as they approached a man covered in red whose chin was lowered._

 _"It's finally over, Natsu. We've won."_

 _Silence._

 _Tears spilled down the cheeks of a white haired woman. "But at what cost, Erza. I don't ever want to use a sword again! I don't ever want to kill again. Our comrades, my sister," cried another voice._

 _A hand belonging to the red haired woman reached out. "I'm sorry Mira..."_

 _Very slowly, the pink haired man raised his chin. Red eyes narrowed dangerously as blood slid down his chin._

 _Erza bit her lip as the water started to trail down her face. The war was finally over but at what cost. What had they become?_

 _..._

 _..._

 _What had they done?_

...

...


	2. Chapter 2

Warning: Grammatical error. Mature scenes. Violence. Cussing. Sexual themes. Dark.

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Chapter 2

The streets of Kyoto were burst today. Merchants scattered the streets and children playfully ran from stall to stall. With eager eyes, they examined the goods in which the merchants had to offer. There were fine ornaments from faraway lands, elegantly woven kimonos, weaponry and other jaded pottery. The children giggled and the women chatted excitedly as they whispered amongst each other.

Amidst the crowd, a small child exclaimed, "Catch me." He giggled and waved frantically as he ran backwards. "Catch me if you can, Hugo!"

Hugo was struggling to catch his breath. He was a little ways after his friend and he pouted cutely as he cried, "No fair, Kenny!"

The boy name Kenny merely chuckled naughtily before turning around to run faster but only ended up crashing into the legs of an adult. The air was knocked out of his lungs and his lips parted to allow for a small "oomph" when he thought he would have hit the floor except he hadn't fallen back flat like he had expected.

It seemed someone had grabbed onto him around the armpits. His eyes that were once squeezed shut peered opened curiously. There, stooping in front of him was a man with the strangest color hair he had ever seen: pink and kind charcoal eyes. His little lips parted in awe. This man released him just as Hugo had reached them.

He beamed brightly at them and patted their heads with a contagious grin. "Careful there, kids."

The two exchanged a glance before nodding their heads and grinning excitedly. "Thank you, mister!" Kenny exclaimed and then they were off, waving goodbye and this time they were more careful than before.

The man with the strange hair coloring watched them until they disappeared within the crowd. Then he was glancing up at the sky, eyes closing calmly as the sun caressed his tanned skin.

"Enjoying the peace are we, Natsu."

An eye peeled opened and Natsu raised a bandaged hand lazily to greet his friend. "Ah, Erza."

A scarlet haired woman clad in a pink kimono that reached her knees outfitted with a blue obi paused when she reached her friend. Like him a sword was attached to her hip. She couldn't help the amused smile that followed. "Old man skanks is all out of herbs. But I was told Kazuki has some. He's a little ways into the mountains though."

Natsu nodded slowly with a smile. It was his turn along with Erza to go shopping for the groceries. He had been waiting outside for her to finish bargaining for items they needed for their inn. Too bad about the herbs. Many of their patrons always complimented the fresh quality in which their food was blended with.

"Lets go then."

The woman nodded and they started towards the edge of the city.

"Have you heard?"

"Yes, apparently there was some type of assassination yesterday morning over at Tokyo. Eight bodies were found."

Natsu and Erza's eyes narrowed at the hushed voices huddled in a far corner.

"Who do you think could have done it?"

"Rumor has it the children of the revolution have come back for revenge."

"Nonsense, they are all dead. Fairy Tail made sure of it."

Both partners continued to walk, ignoring the whispers.

Natsu was the first to speak. "Children of the revolution huh…" he whispered, frowning thoughtfully.

Erza sighed. "Let's not give rumors much thought Natsu."

No conversation was exchanged between the two within the next half an hour. Each was too engrossed in their thoughts of the past.

It wasn't until they reached the outskirts of the mountain forest that Erza spoke softly and with conviction. "Japan is peaceful."

Onyx eyes glanced over at her lazily.

Erza glanced up at the sky and smiled sadly. "I've done things that I have regretted Natsu but I don't regret joining Fairy Tail. I don't regret fighting for our cause. Japan is a better place. People are free. We are free." Her eyes tightened. "It has to be…"

Natsu's chin lowered. "Ah."

"We took away the happiness of the children who lost their parents to the revolution but we had no choice. If we had left their parents thousands of people would have suffer. What we did was wrong. Their blood is forever on our hands. Each of us is aware of this which is why we took that vow ten years ago that we would continue to live as repentance." Her head dropped. "Yet even after all the horrible things we've done, Japan is a much better place. People are happy. We did the right thing even at the expense of other's happiness."

Natsu watched as her hair lash out all around her. His friend appeared sad. He understood this. After all they had all participated in a form of genocide. Each of them had all slaughtered hundreds of men and women for the sake of a better tomorrow. He knew that pain: that guilt that sometimes kept him up at nights. His hand reached out to comfort her but it was then he caught something from the corner of his eyes. His eyes widened slightly.

Erza grew slightly alarmed. "Natsu."

She watched as his face turned serious and his hand went to the hilt of his sword.

Erza glanced back and froze as she saw a body floating in the nearby river.

Instantly she ran towards the body while the pinkette merely disappeared into the wilderness. She turned the person over and her heart nearly skipped a beat. It was a woman. She was beautiful and. Her eyes grew. Various wounds were torn all over her body. It appeared as if she had been attacked with a weapon. Erza instantly bent down to the woman's chest. It was faint but she could still hear it: a heart beat. This woman was still alive.

Natsu appeared beside the red head when no danger could be spotted near them. "Is she alive?" he asked calmly, sheathing his blade. "Yes, but barely. We have to get her to Wendy."

He nodded and lifted the woman up. Both shared a look before they disappeared with extraordinary speed within the blink of an eye.

…

…

…

" _Mama! Papa!"_

" _Lucy, you have to hide."_

" _No. I want to be with Mama and Papa!"_

" _Lucy, baby, please!"_

" _No. Please don't leave me here, Mama. Please take me with you!"_

" _Virgo."_

" _Jude-sama."_

" _Papa, NO!"_

 _Doors shattered._

 _Flames erupted._

 _Metal sliced into thin air before wrecking havoc across the flesh. Blood sprayed on the floor furiously and suddenly the air reeked of hell. Furniture, pottery, ornaments and other plants laid shredded amongst the missing limbs of the dead as the flames seem to lash murderously, craving for the touch of more human flesh._

 _Further into the nearly dilapidated mansion, the battle continued. Swords slashed. More blood splattered. A head rolled. And humans fell._

 _Within the chambers of the master of the estate, a man dressed in a black kimono and a scaly scarf approached. The room grew quiet. Actions happened in slow motion. The wife fell first._

 _From behind the door, through a gap, a child with blonde hair watched on in horror as a man thrust a sword into her father's throat. Thick droplets of tears slowly slid down her cheeks. No…no…papa…mama…papa… Virgo's hands could barely muffle the child's tiny little sobs as she shook viciously, sobbing quietly for the lost of her father. But it didn't end there._

 _Her mother had been attacked before the killer had finished her father._

 _Blonde hair whipped about messily. With tears in her eyes, Layla crawled weakly towards her husband. "Jude…Jude…" she whispered hoarsely, outstretching a hand and then a blade had entered her skull._

 _At that moment, brown met with brown. Tears slipped from her large brown eyes as she mouthed something to another smaller pair of brown eyes and then more flames erupted_ and Lucy found her body in the present jerking into a sitting position.

Sweat glittered her skin. Deep breaths were taken over and over in an effort to calm the calamity, the fear, the despair yet to no avail. Her head ached and Lucy grabbed it, willing for the throb to fade. That nightmare. Her parents. She gritted her teeth angrily, suddenly seeing red. Memories of her child hood was scant but she would never ever forget how viciously fairy tail had murdered her happiness.

She would—had to have revenge. Her fist clenched tightly, almost drawing blood. She would kill every last member of Fairy Tail if it were the last thing she did. All of them had to die. She gritted her teeth. They would die. They would. It was then the presence of her environment kicked in.

Alarmed, Lucy's eyes bulged. She was lying on a futon. Where the hell was she?

Her head throbbed again so she held it once more. The last thing she remembered was…was…

The blonde screwed her face in concentration as she recalled the events of the previous night. She was to kill Gildarts but other members of Fairy Tail had intervened and in a last suicidal attempt of survival she jumped into the river of no land, which meant someone had found her. The fact that her wounds were bandaged said as much. Lucy realized a few seconds later she was dressed in a plain blue yukata and her hair was no longer in a ponytail. Her breast bindings seemed to have been removed too.

Lifting herself into a sitting position, she crept towards the door. The room was plain: white walls, pale yellow flooring and only contained a futon, a stack of books to the side, a small table and a vase to the other corner of the room along with a few stacks of drawers.

She slid the shoji opened. Unexpectedly, she was met with a quiet hall way. Glancing left and right, she searched the house for any sign of ki. There were only two. Choosing the path of the weaker ki, she walked and walked until the scent of roasted beef and various ground provisions hit her senses.

Shoving her back against the wall, she carefully peeked out from behind the kitchen only to see a short blue haired girl? Lucy's eyes widened. It was a child. She took a deep breath as she scanned the two compartment kitchen. There was a knife on the table. She needed at least one weapon if she would make her journey back to the base. No, she wouldn't make her way back to the base. Instead she would set out preparing for her assassination of Gildarts. There was no way in hell she was going to return with a failed mission on her shoulder and this time she would succeed; she would eliminate the Fairy Tail scum.

The blonde tsked as she recalled how dull his blade had become.

Not far from her the blue haired child continued to hum peacefully. Lucy's gaze narrowed.

"I wonder what the guests will like. Maybe I should do that special roast beef soup Mira taught me as a special tonight. What do you think, Charle?"

Lucy nearly sweat dropped as she watched a white, furred cat meowed and curled itself comfortably against the girl's leg. Right. Now that was weird.

Shaking her head, the female samurai returned her attention towards the knife. Her eyes lowered sharply and with that she moved. The knife would have been captured in less than three seconds if someone hadn't suddenly appeared in front of her. This person caught hold of her wrist with a bandaged hand and her eyes grew in astonishment. What the…

"What do we have here?"

Her heart skipped a beat. Someone had stopped her.

"A thief?"

Slowly she glanced up into the amused eyes of charcoal. "In this city," the stranger paused, pulling her closer to his body before his face hardened, "stealing warrants death."

Lucy glared at him, calmly trying to assess the situation.

Now, she wasn't being to simply put arrogant, but her speed wasn't something any mere samurai possessed. Years of vigorous training ensured this and yet this man had caught sight of her movements and her intentions as it were nothing. This was not good. She was still seriously injured and he was dangerous. A bead of sweat rolled down her face. She had to get out of here.

Immediately, her eyes drew to the exit, which the man seemed to notice for the grip around her wrist tightened. "I wouldn't try that if I were you."

Lucy quickly twisted her hand before twisting her body around him and hastily grabbing hold of the knife. Turning to him, she slashed the weapon down. For a moment, she almost lost track of the man's whereabouts as he seemed to have suddenly vanished within thin air.

Another bead of sweat trailed.

He was fast.

She turned around just as he appeared behind her. Once more she aimed the knife at his throat but he simply tilted his neck further to his right. And she could have sworn her wounds reopened at her abrupt movements.

"You're going to reopen your wounds if you don't stop."

"Die." Another attack. This time Natsu calmly hit her hand away, effectively loosening her grip and causing for the weapon to descend. Another punch was aimed at his torso and he deflected it with his knee. Lucy quickly spun around, fully prepared to throw another punch at this nuisance but something abruptly snapped. All of a sudden all she could see and feel was red.

It was then Natsu grabbed hold of her outstretched hand. He forced her around before wrapping his bandaged arm around her neck, pressing her body against his. "Don't move."

"Let go of me!" Lucy yelled angrily.

"Natsu-san!" gasped the blue haired girl finally — after hearing all the commotion she had stopped her preparation of tonight's meal. All of the things she expected she hadn't expected Natsu-san to be basically strangling their injured guest.

Lucy continued to struggle. "Bastard." She glared daggers at the pinkette. Who the hell even has pink hair anyways? In return Natsu merely chuckled in amusement. "Looks like our guest isn't an ordinary woman."

"Let go of me, you asshole!"

In response, he blinked, amazed. "And she's fluent in other languages too." His grip tightened and Lucy found herself clawing even more. "Damn it. Let go!" She elbowed him and Natsu applied more pressure.

Wendy watched on in frantic dismay, unsure as to what was going on. She grew even more panicky when she noticed their guest's bandages begin to spot with red. Flailing her hands, she exclaimed worriedly, "Natsu-san, you're hurting her. Let go of her before you make her wounds worst!"

Natsu sighed before he calmly gave a chop to said guest's neck. The next second she was out cold, slumped against him. Lifting her as if she were a sack of potatoes, he placed her atop his shoulder. When he realized his female cousin was still glaring at him, he frowned and waved his free hand in dismissal. "She's fine Wendy. She's tougher than she looks."

Placing her hands on her hips, Wendy puffed out her cheeks and glared. "Still, Natsu-san, did you have to knock her out? What would Erza-san say when she hears how you attacked a girl?" The white cat nuzzled against Wendy's ankle before sending an icy meow at the pink haired samurai.

Natsu sweat dropped. He was being reprimanded by his small cousin and her cat. Again.

Threading a hand through his hair, he shook his head. "She attacked me first."

"She doesn't even look like she's older than seventeen too which means you just abused an innocent teenager! I'm gonna tell Mira when she gets back!"

He sighed before scratching his neck. "Ah. Ah. I get it. Go easier on this kid next time."

Wendy nodded. "You better, Natsu-san. Wait! Wha—" The bluenette grasped her face in mortification. Next time? Was she going crazy? Charle was right. Eating too much sweets was starting to affect her thinking. Wah!

Natsu merely grinned. "Got it."

"No, Natsu-san, I meant don't attack her at all. She's injured and came very close to dying." Wendy waved a finger. "It's amazing she survived the river at all."

Natsu tilted his head and glanced down at the girl in deep thought as he held his chin. "Probably has a strong will to live." He turned and waved a hand at his smaller companion. "Gonna drop her back to her room."

Wendy waved. "Alright, Natsu-san."

…

"Who is this woman?"

"Dunno. She was trying to escape."

A dull voice. "Why didn't you let her, flame brain? She's not in a near death state anymore."

A glare. "She's still injured."

"How sentimental, tch."

"Gray. Natsu is right. She isn't back to 100 percent yet and..and she seemed kind of frightened. At least that's how it looked like when I saw her leaving her room."

"Still she isn't our business. I disagree with this."

"Enough."

"Aye, sir!"

"Natsu, you said she moved like a trained warrior?" Erza asked curiously.

"Ah." Arms folds slothfully. "She was fast too. Definitely of samurai heritage but she moves like an assassin too."

"Mission gone wrong then." Juvia asked.

"Perhaps." Erza grasped her chin thoughtfully.

"Natsu those rumors back in the streets. You don't suppose she had anything to do with it. Maybe she's..."

A pause. "A child from the revolution"

Natsu shrugged. "Wouldn't surprise me."

"Hmm. Let's keep an eye on her for now. I'd like to avoid senseless killing. I believe we've each had enough of that."

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement

…

…

 _Flashback#2 – The Beginning_

" _What is he?"_

 _Blood streamed into the river of pouring rain._

" _What was Master thinking taking in a monster?"_

 _Red eyes lowered. A younger, fifteen year old Natsu sat leaning against a tree, chin bowed, sword against his shoulder. The rain continued to fall harshly, soaking his dark kimono splattered with blood yet the boy made no movement. Lightning flashed. More whispers erupted._

" _Rumor has it, he was once a slave of the Shogunate."_

" _The shogun was hiding such a monster. I heard he killed ten people in less than one minute. What the fuck is he?"_

 _A woman along with a raven haired man whom were approaching the inn, paused within the gardens at the whisper._

 _Erza's eyes narrowed dangerously. "You dare to question master's decision."_

 _The onlookers hesitated before beginning to disburse, murmuring._

 _Gray tsked. "Assholes. Come on Erza. We can't afford the risk of being sick right now."_

 _Erza silently agreed but frowned as she gazed at the boy. Lightning flashed again and her eyes softened. "He's only a child. He should be at home with his parents."_

" _We're all still kids, Erza."_

 _Erza shook her head. "Indeed yet none of us are as young as him." Her chest tightened. "There's something about him that feels sad. He doesn't talk. He hardly even comes to dinner. What did they do to him?"_

 _Gray shrugged nonchalantly. "A lot." He rested a hand on her shoulder. "He will heal within time. For now, I think it's best if we leave him alone."_

 _The so called monster's chin lifted slightly as he watched the red headed woman and raven headed man head into the inn. None of them noticed how his features and red eyes darkened murderously or how he gripped his sword even tighter in anger._

* * *

 _A bit earlier than I said huh. *grins*_

 _Review Responses: (Cuz you guys are awesome)_

 **CryptoFox - Well, here's your more. *goffy Happy eating fish face* I hope this chapter is just as interesting as the first.**

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 _Till next time._


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Upon her second time of awakening, the blonde assassin was greeted with the familiar visage of the same blue haired girl from the kitchen. At once, Lucy attempted to move but her vision faltered. Her head felt dizzy. It took seconds to regain some type of control over her body and when she did, the bluenette wasted no time in grinning and greeting her excitedly,

"You're finally awake, Miss!"

Miss?

Something snapped and then just like that a torrent of emotions collided. The memories came, rolling one after another at that single word.

Miss?

Miss?

Brown eyes widened.

" _Miss. Lucy, please come out of that tree!" Spetto._

" _Miss. Lucy, are you alright?" Another one of her father's servants. "Miss?"_

" _Miss. Lucy, Brandish doesn't hate you. It's just she has difficulty communicating." Grammy._

" _Miss. Lucy, I will protect you." Loke. A Sad smile.  
_

Startled, Lucy abruptly brought her body into a sitting position. With wide eyes, she gripped the sheets tightly. No! Not again. For a moment her vision blurred and she struggled to breathe as the flashes roughly assaulted her.

This action caused Wendy to flinch. Was something wrong with the lady? Were her wounds acting up again?

Smiling weakly, Wendy, as gently as she could so as to not scare her, asked again "Miss, are you alright?"

"Are you alright?" The question repeated itself over and over, slowly bringing the blonde back to the realm of reality. Immediately, her hand rubbed at her neck. What the hell?

Wendy forced a shy smile. "I'm sorry about Natsu-san's behavior. He shouldn't have knocked you out like that."

Natsu-san?

She blinked at the girl a couple of times before the events of not too long ago registered. That pink haired bastard! She growled lowly causing for Wendy to flinch.

"Seems like sleeping beauty has finally awaken."

As calmly as she could, Lucy glared up at the person leaning against the shoji with their arms crossed leisurely across their chest. It was the dangerous man. A bead of sweat rolled down the back of her neck. What had she gotten herself into and why did he not let her go?

Wendy smiled cheerfully. "Natsu-san! You're up early."

The pinkette tilted his head lazily. "Came back from practice not too long ago. Felt the shift in her ki."

Wendy nodded. "Good. Maybe you can watch her. I'll go fetch Erza-san." The blunette hurried to pack her supplies into a small case. Lucy realized the little girl had just changed her bandages if her supplies were anything to go by. So she was a doctor or had some type of medical experience? At such a young age? Lucy honestly did not want to be impressed but she was.

Once the girl had exited the stranger turned his full attention back to her and the blonde averted her gaze. His eyes were too intense. They stayed like this; with him staring and her gripping the sheets until her knuckles turned white. Eventually she had had enough of his ridiculous staring and she growled darkly, "Who the hell are you and what the hell do you want?"

Natsu or whatever he was called tilted his head innocently; however, that look soon morphed into darkness as he narrowed his eyes. "You nearly drowned." He stood up straight with folded arms and took a step towards her.

Something snapped within the atmosphere. Lucy quickly slipped her hand beneath her pillow in search of some type of weapon.

When she found none she quickly back flipped, distancing herself from the pink haired bastard. She winced at the pain the sudden action caused to her body but tried to focus her vision as she prepared for the worst.

Natsu's eyes tightened at the gesture and he halted his movements. "You're lucky Erza and I found you in time."

Who the hell was this Erza?

"Thanks but I didn't asked to be saved."

Natsu scowled.

"I'm leaving."

Natsu uncrossed his arms and started towards her again. "I can tell you hold little value over your life." He glared at her and Lucy quickly side stepped, placing more distance between them. Her heart was pounding quickly. Every instinct within her was telling her to run, that this man was dangerous, that he could kill her with minimal effort.

"There were rumors about some type of failed assassination in Tokyo. You wouldn't have anything to do with that?"

Lucy smirked. That had been before she had went after Gildarts so word had finally reached. Good. "And if I did?"

Before Lucy could move again she found herself cornered. The stranger was right in front of her now, bandaged arm resting above her head. He glared down at her. "You murdered eight innocent people."

"They were hardly innocent," she spat. "If you want to kill me hurry up and do it. I am not afraid of death."

It felt like minutes the two spent staring into each other's eyes. Lucy was the first to blink, averting her attention to the floor. "Look I am grateful you tended to my wounds or whatever but if you're not going to kill me then I'd like to leave if you don't mind."

Natsu smirked. "Actually I do."

Lucy's eyes snapped up at him again. This was not good. If she were compromise then the organization would...

"Natsu, are you scaring our guest?"

Lucy's eyes widened. Not good. Another powerful ki had just entered and her eyes dropped dangerously. Escaping was going to be near impossible now that they had company.

Natsu merely grinned. "I wouldn't say I'm scaring her." He suddenly disappeared. Lucy's eyes bulged again. Fast. He appeared next to the red head woman less than a second later with his hand tucked in the breast of his yukata.

Erza smiled softly at the girl. "I apologize for my friend's behavior."

Lucy scowled. "Is there any reason why I am being kept here."

Natsu tucked his hands behind his head whereas Erza outstretched her hand. "My name is Erza. This (She gestured with her chin) is Natsu."

Lucy nodded coldly.

Erza frowned when she realized Lucy did not return the gesture but smiled again nevertheless. "I see. May I ask your age then."

"Why does it matter?"

"It doesn't. But you look a bit too young to be traveling on your own."

A brow arched coyly. "Who said I was traveling alone?"

"Then may I ask why my colleague and I found you for dead in the river. I think an explanation is warranted considering we saved your life."

Lucy merely glared. "I didn't asked to be saved."

Erza's eyes lowered sternly. "You didn't and yet here we are."

"What is it you people want from me?"

Erza's face softened. "A name would be nice."

Lucy groaned but folded her arms and continued to glare at the floor. "I'm eighteen and I'd like to get the heck out of here."

"Eighteen?" Erza smiled gently. "You are far too young to be traveling on your own. If you would allow it, Natsu can accompany you to your home."

Lucy's eyebrow twitched. What the hell was wrong with this woman? Surely, she was aware that Lucy was no ordinary woman. And why the hell couldn't they just let her go. She needed to escape before the organization sent someone to look for her.

They wouldn't kill her per say but they would kill the ones whom had saved her and then torture her once she had arrived back home. In all honesty Lucy wasn't about receiving any punishment from Acnologia nor was she about to return with a failed mission; her first on her shoulders. She would finish the mission and perhaps tell the bastard Acnologia to go to hell or something.

Just as Lucy had finished contemplating how she would escape something in the room shifted.

Both heads snapped around at the sound of movement. Lucy gritted her teeth. Shit.

Natsu tilted his head to the side as he glanced back through pink bangs. Turning so that his back now faced the blonde, his eyes lowered at the presence. Someone was in here. An eyebrow arched.

"Expecting company."

Erza's eyes narrowed but she didn't move.

Lucy glared and then just like that shuriken blades were heading towards them. Lucy watched as the man quickly and had somehow managed to grab hold of her pillow where the blades connected.

It was that instant where Lucy acted. After all, an instant was all that was needed for Lucy to escape, dashing through the door. This wasn't good. As much as she hated people she had no intentions of allowing the ones who had saved her to come to harms way. Quickly she made her way to the kitchen. It was empty and she grabbed a knife, tucked it in her clothes before rushing the other way.

The other way turned out to be the wrong way. They were loads of people sitting on various mats behind various small tables littering the area. The large kitchen, the lunch chamber and the various rooms. It all made sense now. This was an inn. Everyone glanced at her strangely. From the distance Lucy noticed a bluenette making her way towards her. Breathing heavily, she turned and ran. This time avoiding all kis aside from the one whom was steadily closing in on her. Of al thel people they had to send why did it have to be Brandish? The one whom actually helped trained her. Who was stronger than her?

Rushing out through the door, the scent of fresh midnight air hit her with a force like no other. There was no time to glance around as she quickly fled, passing through an abundance of trees. She had no clue where she was but she needed to disappear deeper into this forest, mold with it blend with it and focus on hiding her ki.

Suddenly a sword landed in front of her. When Lucy made haste to follow another direction the woman she feared most suddenly appeared looking as distant and cold as ever. She wore a light blue prettily decorated kimono, sword on back, green hair cut in a bob. There was a high split at the side of the kimono revealing one long smooth leg.

"Lucy." Brandish acknowledged dully. Lucy scowled. "What do you want, Brandish?"

"Come."

Lucy smirked. "You and I both know I don't have any interest in returning until the mission is completed."

"You failed."

Lucy gritted her teeth. "Not yet I haven't"

Brandish sighed. "The organization is not willing to have you running wild. They fear it will alert them. And we cannot risk losing you."

"Brandish...we're done here."

"Do not make me use force to bring you back."

Lucy smirked and got into a fighting position, pulling the knife out. "When last did we have a fight?"

For a moment, Brandish smirked but narrowed her gaze. "Do you desire that I eliminate every member within that inn, including the ones who saved you?"

"Now that would be something if the ones at the inn were your average regular citizens."

Lucy's eyes widened slightly. Brandish remained indifferent.

From behind Brandish Lucy could make out the familiar pink haired man walking lazily towards them. A sword was at his hip and his bandaged hand was tucked safely behind the breast of his blue yukata.

Instantly her entire body froze. Brandish turned around emotionlessly. "Who are you?" She asked calmly and the pinkette merely grinned in return. "Natsu. And you are?"

Brandish gazed at him before mumbling, "Brandish."

Natsu's grin widened as he pointed a thumb in Lucy's direction. "And the blonde?"

Lucy glared. "None of your damn business!"

Brandish again stared at him longer than was necessary. "Lucy."

He nodded in understanding. "Ah."

"Are you infatuated with this woman?"

Natsu smirked. "I'll admit she's kind of attractive."

Lucy's right eye twitched. "Kinda?"

Charcoal eyes slid up her form and the blonde glared menacingly. He crossed his arms. "Besides she's still under our care until she has fully recovered. One of the policies of our inn."

Brandish frowned. "I see."

"You must be pretty good to sneak into the inn with none of us noticing."

"Ah. It is one of the arts of a ninja."

"I'm assuming you don't belong to any clan."

Brandish's frown deepened. "Not anymore." She glanced back at Lucy. "This girl and I merely belong to a merchant group of samurais for hire."

Natsu's eyes gleamed. "Hmmm. Interesting but still I'm going to have to ask that you move away from the woman. She doesn't seem too keen on coming with you."

Brandish's dead gaze ignited slightly as she narrowed her eyes. "Oh." Her hand reached for her sword, so did Natsu.

Before Lucy could move both beings had disappeared.

Soon the clatter of blades sparked almost everywhere.

They were extremely fast. Lucy had to focus to keep up.

Brandish suddenly reappeared skidding backwards across the dirt, sword outstretched.

Natsu appeared calmly behind her. He thrust his sword outwards. Brandish stepped backwards to avoid the attack. However, though skin had been saved, pieces of clothing tore at her chest, revealing more of her cleavage. Natsu whistled before resting his blade on top of his shoulder.

Brandish merely smiled softly before shielding her blade. "I see." She paused and turned towards her stunned blonde companion.

For a moment her gaze softened as the images came.

 _Through destroyed rubble, besides a dead body a child cried._

 _Brandish remembered walking limply towards her mistress whom was holding the dead bodies of her parents, crying loudly. Her heart ached and even she found the tears slipping down her chin slowly. She had failed._

 _Another distorted image of her outstretching a hand._

 _Blonde hair lashed out at the cold touch of the wind._

" _We can't stay here, Lucy."_

 _More distorted images of dead bodies and a stream of blood._

 _A sniff._

" _Lucy."_

" _Brandish-san, my heart aches."_

 _Softened features._

" _I know."_

" _I want revenge."_

" _Hime, you don't know what you are talking about."_

" _I want them all dead! Every last one of them!"_

 _More distortled images of violence, seduction, assassination and death._

 _A small child like face trying to be brave covered in blood. A shaky grin. "Look Brandish I did it. I killed one of them."_

 _Eyes tightened. "Lucy, what have you done…"_

 _More distortion of images._

" _Mummy and papa is happy right? I did the right thing right. Acnologia said they helped killed mummy and daddy. They took away our happiness right," she sobbed._

" _She's lost her memories she can't remember."_

" _But!"_

" _And it will remain like this. I will not lose her and you will keep quiet!"_

 _A hand outstretched. "I will follow you to the depth of the world, Lucy, whatever you choose I will follow you_

 _The smiling face of a blonde child.. "Brandish!"_

Very slowly, the green head started towards her. Once besides her, she whispered something into the blonde's ear. Instantly her entire body froze up her teeth gritted just as her hands had clenched and then with one last smile she vanished.

Lucy's heart skipped three beats as she stared dazed at the area Brandish had just vanished from. Natsu approached her lazily. "Hey, are you alright?"

Lucy threw a glare at him from over her shoulder. "What do you think!" she snapped.

He regarded the blonde with half lidded eyes. "I'm assuming the organization you work with wants you dead."

Lucy's eyes widened slightly. Hadn't he heard the conversation? She grimaced. "Brandish wouldn't kill me."

"That doesn't mean the others wouldn't."

Lucy turned to him with pursed lips. Nothing was wrong with mixing some lies with the truth. "I failed one of their missions. They're going to come after me. I'd like it if you don't keep me here any longer than necessary. There are things I'd like to do before I die."

Natsu stared at her longer before glancing up at the moon. "You really do hold little value over your life."

Lucy glared at him. "What's that supposed to mean!"

His eyes met hers again and this time she startled at how dark they looked.

"You're friend doesn't seem like the type whom will rattle on you. If you've no place to go then you are welcome to stay at our inn."

"Inn?"

Natsu gave her a small smirk. "Dragon Slayers. No one will find you there."

Lucy mentally sweatdropped. "An inn named Dragon Slayers. Are you kidding me?"

He grinned broadly, revealing teeth and blinding Lucy at the innocence of the smile.

Lucy glared at the floor. "I'd prefer not to get anyone else involved in my problems."

"At Dragon Slayers inn we hardly care about anyone's past." He outstretched a hand. "You can run whenever you think you need to but for now my friends and I would prefer it if you stayed until your injuries have healed."

Lucy's lips parted to snap at his stupidity for trusting a stranger but she instantly sealed them closed as she remembered Brandish's words. _"Stay with them for now. We are close."_

Her eyes lowered and she nodded her head slowly.

Natsu grinned at her again and for some reason she felt something in the deepest recess of her mind spark in slight familiarity.

…

…

…

 _Flashback#3 Before there was Freedom_

" _He's not human."_

" _He is the last of his clan."_

" _Why does the shogun not kill him."_

 _A blonde haired man's eyes lowered. "Because he will be useful." He took off his bloodied gloves. "Has he began to show fear."_

 _The two guards outfitted in the shogun's emblem shook their heads. "No, Heartfilia-sama. If anything he seems to be becoming more angered."_

 _Jude narrowed his gaze at the guards. "Increase his punishment then. Do not feed him for the next three days."_

 _They saluted. "Hai!"_

 _Jude then glanced around at the dungeon looking hallway with scantly lit torches. "My daughter, Lucy, where is she?"_

" _In the library, sir."_

" _Summon her at the entrance. It is time we head back home. I have had enough of punishing the shogun's enemies for one night," he stated coldly. Little further away a blonde haired six year old shuffled across the hallways in a hesitant and frightened manner. Her heart began to beat faster with each step she took. Where was she? The light from the torches flickered at the touch of a light breeze. She had only been trying to follow her papa to show him one of her drawings. How did she end up here? Why was papa even here? She grabbed the clothing of her chest tightly. She was scared…_

 _The small blonde soon missed a step and fell face flat. Moaning in pain, Lucy rubbed at her cheek while tears gathered at either corner of her eyes. She sniffed. "Outch."_

"… _kid."_

 _The noise of a drop of liquid falling into liquid reverberated several times._

 _Lucy rubbed at her eyes before turning to face her front._

 _Another drop._

 _What met her made her entire features freeze in fear and her lips parted in horror. Before her was a man covered in lots of blood, cuts and wounds and his eyes were red and his body was hanging, wrists nailed to the wall behind._

 _More droplets of blood fell._

 _Her heart squeezed tighter, thumped faster. Bl-blood. There was blood. Lots and lots of blood._

 _Her small body trembled. No…. Her head shook in denial. No…_

 _His cold gaze remained on her before they softened slightly. "Are you okay?"_

 _Lucy clasped her mouth and screamed._

 **Notes: Late, I know, kill me but I wanted to get a few chapters out before I started to update weekly. I'm pleased to say I have a few chapters written and should be able to update weekly now. See you guys next week or maybe I might just update before then *wink***

 **Thanks to the following for placing my story on their alerts and as their favorites:**

 **FAVs: tichnor6, MakeDreamsComeTrue, Reisanae-chi1507, T4K3N, advanceshipping4ever, narutoyaoifan, RioPapafio, Cresentgenisi, Gayres0918, tigerladygamer, oxXSilverTomboyXxo, Annah Kingsly, 98, JakeTheRipper02, LunarDrag0n  
**

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	4. Chapter 4

Author's comments: What happened to updating weekly? Answer: Life. It sucks but cheers to me finally posting another chapter. R & R!

There may be some grammatical and spelling errors. You've been warned.

Chapter 4

Leaning against the tree, Lucy watched amongst the shelter of the tree's leaves as Romeo and Wendy played a game of tag. It had been almost five weeks since she had received the order from Brandish to stay with the people whom had treated her injuries. During this time she had come to learn along with this Erza, Natsu and Wendy that several other staff resided within the inn. The wind blew and her hair which was upheld in a ponytail whipped.

There was a Gray whom was polite enough to her but always careful, cautious and distant. Juvia who was married to Gray took to her quite nicely (threatening her about coming too close to her Gray-sama) along with Levy and a Jellal. Gajeel never spoke to her. Erza always inquired as to her health and how she was doing and Natsu.

Her eyebrows scrunched together in distaste. She didn't hate him as much as before but she knew danger when she saw it and he was dangerous. No matter how much he tried to hide this with his lazy grins, smirks and ridiculous teasing he couldn't hide the fact that a predator laid hidden within the edges of his ki.

Countless times Lucy tried to stay away from the man but fate seemed to have other plans for her. Sometimes they would meet up in the hallways or sometimes if she were on waitress duties then he would be there on security or cleaning duties. That was another thing she never imagined she'd be doing. Working at an Inn. Of all the undercover missions she had done never had she worked as a hostess, dish washer, cleaner all at the same time, especially for such a long period of time. It almost felt peaceful to be here. In fact in moments like now when the Inn wasn't busy and Wendy and Romeo played like children their age should while the others lingered around in the backyard, Lucy hardly thought about revenge. She almost felt normal.

Tsking, the blonde stood. Her red kimono seemed to glitter under the rays of the sun. She raised a hand to shade her eyes from the blazing sun. Outside was dry, heated but beautiful. The wind blew again and she snorted before heading to the dojo.

All the others knew about her was that she was a samurai for hire. A bounty hunter. They didn't judge and each of them all seemed to have a past as stained as her own. If she hadn't had a dojo to train in, Lucy might have worried that her blade would have begun to dull. The others weren't aware of her skill set just yet. All they knew was that she was quite skilled with a sword. They didn't know that she possessed ninja and other martial arts skill along with deception, thievery and assassination. The blonde supposed this was good.

Once she had reached the dojo, Lucy quickly went for a sword. She conducted a few strikes before finally letting her body lose. A slash here. Another one there and as her practice continued, gradually she began to imagine that she was tearing apart those fairy tail scum whom had changed the world for the quote and quote better. Another angry thrust.

She spun around and immediately brought her blade down diagonally. Her movements were growing more erratic, more violent. The anger soon morphed into rage as she thought about how they had invaded her home.

Flames of the past erupted around her.

Slash.

Bodies laid shredded amongst the mansion's furniture and other finery.

More blood pooled into the ground, connecting to the other pathways of blood.

Two more angry strikes. A ground sweep and a couple of mad sprints across the boarded dojo.

A sword was thrust into a blonde haired man's throat — her father.

Lucy released an angry battle cry as she brought her blade down into the ground then sent an imaginary kick at her opponent.

Next, a bloodied blade slid into her mother's skull.

Another cry. Lucy raised her blade as moisture reached her eyes. It was at that moment she noticed another presence. Quickly the blade was thrown towards the entrance where the handle of the blade was caught rather easily.

And a second or two later sparks flied at the sudden collision of two powerful blades.

Natsu whom had originally been leaning against the door, watching as the blonde practice with such vicious onslaught of emotions narrowed his eyes down at her. As soon as he had caught the sword the woman had sent flying at him, with obvious intent to kill, she had appeared in front of him, sword aimed for his neck. Luckily he blocked in time.

He realized a second later that her brown eyes seemed dull as if they were trapped in a memory and he frowned. For a moment they stared and then Lucy glared rather coldly.

He applied more force to his weapon just like her however he overpowered her and her own blade was lying against her neck with his closely behind. Natsu narrowed his eyes at her, gazing at her darkly. "You really don't value your life, Lucy."

Lucy glared. "What the hell do you want?"

Natsu smirked.

Lucy didn't take too well to that smirk. The next thing he knew her foot had connected with his stomach. Eyes widened and he was sent stumbling backwards, further into the dojo.

But it didn't end there. The blonde had quickly tripped him with a ground sweep before stomping her foot roughly on his chest when his back had hit the ground. "I'm not in a good mood right now." She finished coldly, gazing at him with that impassive look, the tip of her sword at his neck and he merely chuckled. The blonde still refused to call him by his given name and she was much stronger than he had originally anticipated. Not to mentioned pretty damn skilled too.

Grinning lazily, he quickly brought a foot to swipe at her feet. It reached its intended target; however before the woman could fall she quickly back flipped, placing some distance between them.

Natsu was crouching; his blade resting idly atop his shoulder.

Gritting her teeth, the assassin charged towards him. Swords collided and more sparks fled. Even as time began to pass neither of the two samurais seemed to have any intention of stopping. Lucy brought a knee to Natsu's stomach before she roughly grabbed hold of his chin and threw him over her. Raising her blade she brought it down but the pinkette parried the attack before landing on his two feet. His head was bowed and Lucy continued to attack him. Lashing out left, right, diagonally, horizontally, and vertically yet the man countered each of her attack. And for each time blades collided, more sparks flied.

As the two continue attacking viciously, a red head who had been originally merely passing the dojo paused at the noise she heard coming from it. The shoji was slid opened by an inch and when she peeked her eyes widened in astonishment. Before her Natsu and their newest hire seemed to be going at it rather violently. They moved in blurs, appearing this way and that way. But what startled her most was the fact that even with his head lowered she could tell Natsu was smiling. He was enjoying himself and she smiled softly.

It was just as she hoped. This new girl though obviously damaged just like them was the right person to break their mundane life and though no one would admit it things were much interesting with her around especially with her constant bickering with Natsu and anyone whom pissed her off.

Chuckling, the red head slid the shoji shut.

Things got more violent between the two. Both appeared as equals until Lucy made one slight mistake in terms of her footing and that was enough for Natsu's attack to send her blade flying into the wall behind her. Before she could react with her fists, the blonde found herself roughly forced against the wall with the pink haired man's blade at her throat. His head was lowered and his lips were tugged down.

She glared hatefully. Knowing he had won this one battle pissed her off even more.

"Samurai for hire, you say?"

Lucy clenched her fists.

When Natsu raised his chin, her eyes grew abruptly larger. Red eyes were narrowed darkly, staring down at her with a cruelty she didn't know anyone other than a killer could possess. Something deep within her snapped to life at those eyes. Then it happened. Her senses were doing it again. Running rampant. A bead of sweat trailed down the side of her face. This man wasn't just dangerous. Weren't his eyes green or charcoal or something?

His sword pressed further into her throat. "You move more like an assassin."

Though his voice was deadly Lucy continue to maintain immunity. Lucy smirked wickedly. "I could say the same to you, Mr. Inn Keeper."

Natsu stared at her harder before giving her a dark smirk. After a few moments passed with the other glaring at each other he pulled away from her. "A spy then?"

Lucy arched a brow. "Are you someone who needs spying on?"

He chuckled. "They usually send attractive ones so I suppose that rules it out."

Lucy's eyebrow twitched and she glared. "What did you say, asshole!"

Natsu laughed again. "Luigi, you're actually quite funny."

"It's Lucy you imbecile! OR would you like me to slit your tongue out for you since you it's obviously no use to you."

Natsu merely watched her, staring at her in amusement then his hand outstretched and Lucy flinched when she felt his thumb trace at the slight bruise on her neck. "I was a bit rough. Sorry. For a moment I forgot you were a woman."

The blonde pulled away. "What exactly are you trying to say? That a woman can't be as powerful as a man." The blonde stepped closer to him, aura menacing. "Would you like me to demonstrate just how much of a woman I am when I kick your sorry butt?"

Natsu chuckled again and bent so that his lips were inches away from her ear. "You can demonstrate alright(his eyes slid up and down her form) just how much of a woman you are in other ways, ya know." He grinned carefree and bent his neck back just in time to avoid a blow to the face. When Lucy prepared to kick him he disappeared appearing near the entrance, his back to her. Raising a hand, the pink head waved. "Let's spar again, Lucy! You're strong."

From then on five weeks had turned into three months. Natsu and Lucy had become unofficial sparring partners. While Lucy would practice Natsu would seek her out and eventually had even started to give her some tips. Everyone had changed also. Maybe it had to do with how she worked just as hard as everyone else, scrubbing the floors until they were spotless, doing anything that was asked of her and more. She didn't need to stay up to midnight to help Levy or Wendy clean. She didn't have to travel with Erza or Juvia for groceries or to set the table even though she was assigned a different task. She didn't have to do any of these things yet she found herself doing more. And with more meant she was growing closer with the others. It started with Levy first. Lucy had been sitting on the floor in the kitchen —a place where she thought she could read peacefully (she hadn't read in quite some time), leaning against the cupboard.

"Ne, Lu-chan, what are you reading?"

Lucy glanced at the bluenette dully. Lu-chan? The blonde snapped the book closed and closed her eyes. "None of your business."

Levy smiled prettily. "Ne, come on." She nudged her with her shoulder. "You might try to hide it but I can see it."

Lucy's eyes snapped opened and she glared. "See what exactly."

Levy winked. "That despite that tough emotionless bad ass bitch pretense you're actually pretty nice."

Lucy scowled.

"And you're like me — a book worm."

Honestly, Lucy was speechless.

"Us book worms gotta stick together you know. And this is an outdated copy you're reading." Levy's face lighted. "Did you know that this inn actually has an underground library." Levy stood from her stooping position and patted her chest. "And I'm proud to say I've worked hard collecting over one thousand books."

Lucy blinked and blurted in amazement. "You have over one thousand books!"

Levy grinned excitedly in return. "Auhu. Wanna see?"

They talked about books and though Lucy still maintained her cold angry indifferent demeanor it didn't mean she couldn't relax about one of her favorite things. Gray didn't seem as guarded as before. In fact some times he would tease her here and there, give her pointers about the inn and even help her out much to Juvia's chagrin. Gajeel and her had also started to speak too; however short. The man mostly referred to her as bunny girl. Life here seemed normal but even Lucy knew peace with her couldn't last forever.

And how right she was when she had spotted a few of her bretheren from the organization lingering around these parts. Lucy ensured she became most scarce when it came to handling the club. It wasn't until one of the customers had attempted to hit Wendy after she made a slight error in food arrangements that Lucy realized staying here with unknown people was obviously a huge mistake.

During the times they spared, Lucy was aware this Natsu was an aggressive rough person whose eyes would change upon blood lust. What she didn't expect was for the man to end up dead the next night along with the rest of his bretheren or so she thought. At that night, while Lucy was heading for the kitchen for a late night snack she saw it.

Natsu walking casually through the hallways, red eyed glinted and sheathed blade resting on his shoulders. Blood was on him and that bandaged hand and his eyes were so dark and she gasped softly. He regarded her coldly and for some reason Lucy found that those eyes appeared quite familiar as if she had seen those already.

She hadn't commented. The next day whilst she was sparring, Natsu joined her. However, this time something was different. The man normally entered this red eyed state during a fight but when he came to her his eyes were red and he was aggressive when he threw the blade for her to practice with.

"Defend yourself."

"What the hell—" Even then she hadn't gotten a chance to finish for he was on her. Never had he attacked her so viciously — as if he wanted to kill her. And his eyes… Lucy maneuvered to her right just in time to avoid a strike. They continued like this with Lucy mostly dodging and deflecting his attacks. A few times. with such a forceful sword skill, he threw her to the floor, gazing down at her angrily.

"Get up," he stated coldly.

For a moment even she felt the cold clasp of fear as his movements were reminding her of a trained killer and not to mention they were starting to mirror the man whom had killed her parents.

This was ridiculous. Lucy was becoming more agitated. The blonde knew she needed to end things now. Her feelings were starting to become too uncontrolled.

Rolling to her side, Lucy quickly sheathed her blade. "I'm done," she made haste to turn but Natsu was faster; he roughly grabbed hold of her arm. "We're not finished yet."

The blonde peeked over her shoulder and glared at him dully. "We are."

Natsu narrowed his eyes at her and Lucy smirked. "Seems like we know who the real assassin is."

"I didn't kill them," he breathed darkly. "Merely taught them a lesson."

"Good for you. Now, let go of my arm, bastard before I rip out your tongue!"

Natsu glanced at her in amusement before spinning her around. "You truly are amusing, Lucy." And then just like that his eyes closed and he gave her one of the biggest grins she had ever seen. Lucy only had a moment to wonder if she could ever smile like that again. Instead she shook his grip from of off her and elbowed him in the stomach before throwing him over her.

Nastsu landed on his left knee, placing his hand on the floor to lessen impact as he skidded backwards, chin lowered, hair hiding his eyes.

"Don't touch me or smile at me like than when you're in this blood lust, Natsu."

Natsu raised his chin. His eyes were still red but didn't seem as thirsty for blood as before. "So the samurai for hire knows my name. That's a turn on Lucy." He stood and started towards her then vanished. There was no time but to react when her back suddenly hit against the wall. "A real fucking turn on." Drawing closer to her lips, he inhaled her scent and Lucy kneed him in the guts. "I told you not to touch me, bastard." But that didn't stop Natsu from giving her a wicked smirk. "And you smell really good too."

"Natsu!" Suddenly the doors burst opened and Gray rushed in. He paused upon noticing the intimate position his dear friend had their newest hire in and sighed when he noticed the red eyes. "Hey, flame brain, get away from Lucy. We've got some angry company. Gajeel and Erza's holding them off but seems like the bastards you fucked up brought some friends."

Natsu grinned. "Just in time too."

Gray grinned, confusing the living hell out of Lucy. "Yeah been a while since we got into a brawl. Come on before the fun's gone. Lucy the girls are in the inn! It's safe there."

Lucy blinked a couple of times. What just happened there?

….

….

….

 _Flashback #4_

 _"Why are you imprisoned Natsu?"_

 _A chuckle._

 _"Papa says prison is for bad guys. Did you do something wrong?"_

 _Another chuckle. "Curious as always."_

 _A pout. "You're…you're being mean."_

 _Another chuckle. Then slowly child like lips pulled upwards. A small blonde was lying belly flat on the hard ground of the dungeon. There was a small bottle of ink besides her along with paper and a brush. "I don't like calligraphy very much but papa insists as heir I should know it."_

 _A head tilted as he watched her lazily._

 _"You should smile more you know, Natsu. I'm sure you have a pretty smile!" An innocent grin. Red eyes lowered darkly._

 _It had been two weeks now since they had taken him down from the walls. His wounds had healed nicely. He now sat propped against the wall, one foot standing the other lying flat on the floor dressed in a black kimono, arms wrapped around his standing foot, knuckles resting against his face. He continued to watch the stroke of the brush. The girl was actually pretty good. "You're not bad at this," he muttered, face still cold but eyes softening as he watched her blush madly in embarrassment._

 _She pouted again. Cute._

 _"I hate calligraphy," she blurted but clasped her mouth shortly afterwards. She then shook her head a couple of times before slapping her cheeks. "Bad Lucy."_

 _Natsu chuckled again. "Nothing wrong if you hate it."_

 _"Yes, there is! If papa heard me he'd…he'd…" Natsu grew slightly alarmed as he noticed her stress, the increase of her heart beat, the smell of fear and before he could say anything she was covering everything up with a smile that for some reason made his heart pull painfully._

 _A sad smile. His eyes dropped lower and Lucy grinned. "What I really want to do is become a ninja!"_

 _He blinked rather dumbly. "Huh?"_

 _Lucy nodded excitedly before jumping to her feet and starting to do a few strikes and zipping up and down the corridor quickly, yelling 'Kya'. "I'm pretty good huh!" She grinned again and Natsu blinked again. She was horrible. No talent at all but he supposed there was spirit. His lips tugged upwards only slightly and Lucy stared awe._

 _"You," a deep breath, "You should smile more often, Natsu!"_

 _Shock._

 _"You'd have a really pretty smile." And with that she grinned wildly._

 _His eyes grew larger._


	5. Chapter 5

Author's comments: Phew. Finally another chapter out. Hope you enjoy. Remember to leave your comments. I want to know how I am doing with this story.

Chapter 5

 _Flashback #5 — In which he protects_

 _"Brandish, I don't think this is a good idea."_

 _Brandish rested her dead panned gaze at the younger woman. She was seven whereas Brandish was twelve. "You are a coward."_

 _The shorter blonde flinched and pouted. "No, I'm not."_

 _Brandish smiled softly. "Then sneaking out should be no problem." The green head rested a hand on her hip. "After all, you were the one whom said you wanted to become a ninja," she stated dully._

 _"I do but papa warned us not to travel the streets at night. Isn't a war brewing?"_

 _Brandish remained unfazed. "We aren't traveling the streets. We are traveling the rooftops." She pointed out._

 _Lucy puffed her cheeks out even more. "Same thing."_

 _Brandish's features softened. "I am one of your retainers, Lucy. Should something happen I will protect you."_

 _Their eyes met and Lucy couldn't help but to nod her head excitedly. Brandish was the strongest woman she knew. If Brandish said everything would be alright then it would be alright._

 _Except everything didn't end up being alright._

 _They had ended up being chased by revolutionary members and even though Brandish had tried her best to ward them off - she really did - they still ended up cornered. Deep cuts were all over her body and much to Lucy's horror the bleeding had worsened. The kunoi knife and shuriken seemed ineffective and Lucy found herself more terrified as Brandish placed her body in front of her. Were they going to die? She held her little chest. She didn't want to die. Tears gathered at the corner of her eyes. She didn't want Brandish to die either._

 _'Someone please help us,' she thought in terror._

 _"Brandish…" Lucy whimpered._

 _"It's okay, Hime. I will protect you," Brandish stated.  
_

 _"They're just kids, we should leave them," one of the men said, cautious and gaze hopping all over the place._

 _"No. They've seen too much. We've slaughtered the shogun's comrades. We cannot allow anyone to live," another countered.  
_

 _"But the blonde, isn't she a pretty thing."_

 _Lucy trembled even more and Brandish pushed her back, glaring._

 _"She'll sell for a pretty penny. Why kill her?"_

 _"Leave her alone," growled the green head and one of the men attacked her, grabbing her by the neck. "Shut yer yap, bitch!"_

 _"Hime, run!"_

 _Lucy felt herself becoming more terrified. Her body was shaking furiously and brown eyes were bulged until they couldn't bulge anymore. What was happening?_

 _"Bra-Brandish! Please let her go mister!"_

 _"Hime, run!"_

 _The men all grinned as they started to approach the small blonde whom took small steps back. "This child is beautiful!" Lucy dodged their hands and ran. But instead of running away, she ran towards the man holding Brandish, grabbing hold of their leg as she squeezed her eyes shut. Shards of memories: **over the roof top, watching in horror as blades sliced into flesh as blood sported as brandish tried to block her eyes from the scene" Don't look, hime!"**_

 _These men were monsters. Lucy squeezed her eyes harder. "We didn't do you anything! Let my friend go."_

 _Brandish, though touched, growled. "Run, Lucy-sama! Please!"_

 _One of the men pulled the blonde away, holding her by her wrists but Lucy struggled. "Let go of me!"_

 _"Fiery. I think I'll keep this one."_

 _Lucy glared and bit into their hands. In retaliation the man shoved her back but not before smacking her hard across the face. "You bitch."_

 _The blonde hit hard onto the floor._

 _"Lucy!" screamed Brandish, terrified. The man holding her held her neck tighter, effectively cutting off her air. This was all her fault._

 _The man turned the blonde over and grinned. "Definitely will be keeping her."_

 _His hand moved to touch the blonde in places no person had ever touched and Brandish tried to scream louder, more terrified as tears started to gather. These people were sick! "Lucy! Let her go!" she screamed._

 _Lucy couldn't help but to cry. She was frightened. What were they doing? She started to fight. Someone. Someone had to be out there. Someone. Anyone. A few tears slid down her cheek. "Papa!"_

 _"Mama!"_

 _The man started to move Lucy's clothes. Some of the other men grinned wolfishly a few others seemed hesitant. "Yo, she's a kid man .Selling her will be better."_

 _"Shut the fuck up."_

 _More tears._

 _A skip of the heart._

 _"Papa…daddy….Loke…Natsu! Help us!"_

 _Suddenly one of the eager men in the crowd froze. A sword was thrust into his throat before dragging down effectively splitting him in half and blood sprouted._

 _Lucy blinked dumbly. So did Brandish. "What the..."_

 _Then just like that a blur appeared. More heads rolled. Arms and other torn flesh dropped to the floor where a river of blood began to gather. The man hovering over Lucy suddenly backed away with a whimper. The remaining other started to run, screaming and yelling in fear._

 _Wind lashed out. Clouds rolled in faster blocking the gleam of the full moon. And then just like that a man with a weird hair color halted in front of the weeping blonde. This person's chin was lowered._

 _Brandish watched frozen as the person lowered themselves._

 _Lucy's eyes widened in fear. It was him. The man in the dungeon. The man whom she unintentionally helped free. Na-natsu… She sniffed. He was okay…_

 _Red eyes appeared deadly and she felt herself unable to breathe._

 _His voice was rough, cold and low. "They won't hurt you again."_

 _"Na-Na…"_

 _A hand reached out to move the hair away from her black eye and he growled. The man stood. The men that were running didn't get far._

 _Tears welled up in her eyes. "Do-don't…please don't kill anyone."_

 _But it was too late. The running men were slaughtered viciously just as the rain began to fall. A bloodied blade slid into the skull of a man whom was on the floor begging for mercy. The pinkette remained unfazed, glaring coldly and even Brandish felt the cold clasp of death as she stared into their eyes._

 _Turning, red eyes met a pained brown. Anger:"No one will ever hurt you again. I promise."_

 _"Natsu, don't—" But it was too late for the man was gone and Brandish was left wondering what the heck just happened._

 _How did Hime know this monster?_

 _(Flashback end)_

* * *

Lucy abruptly jerked into a sitting position just as lightning and thunder clattered. Her body shook viciously and it seemed nearly impossible to breathe. Another flash of lightning. Thunder soon followed and then the rain began to beat furiously against the window.

Her hand trailed across the soft texture of the futon, before burying beneath the pillow. Lucy breathed a small sigh of relief. The kitchen knife and other minor instruments were still there. Good. And she roughly slammed back into the futon.

This was the third time this week since she had another blurry nightmare of the past. They were occurring more frequently, ever since she took up temporary residence here. She turned a few times. Something was going to happen. The blonde narrowed her eyes. And she needed to be prepared.

Today marked the sixth month since she had taken homage to the lifestyle of these inn keepers. Her sword was beginning to dull at the simplicity of their life yet her heart refused to be swayed. Each night that passed the blonde prayed she would be given a sign, anything to indicate some type of lead to the fairy tail members. She couldn't move forward, not when the past still haunted her. Not when she could still feel the whip of the flames, the bodies being torn a part, the blade sliding into her father's throat; her mother's skull.

Her blade was dulling but the little memories she had wouldn't allow it to dull completely. Luckily, she didn't have to wait much longer for it was whilst she were out in the market with Wendy that someone had intentionally bumped into her. Lucy had almost picked up one of the fresh fish to throw it at the ruffian but paused when she felt something had changed in her clothing. It was her first message, coated in Brandish's hand writing. They were one of Brandish's ninjas…no her ninjas. Their ninja clan had served under the Heartfilias for many centuries but still Brandish was their leader though loyalty had been pledged to her family. She smirked as she read the hastily scribbled words. Brandish had never been elegant at calligraphy.

Finally she had been given a mission. Her target was simple enough: a geisha from the next side of town. Simple enough. Nothing that would arouse too much suspicion amongst the inn keepers. And so another few weeks passed and once again Lucy's sword had regained its life.

Too gain some peace of mind, the blonde found herself outside, enjoying the afternoon sun light. She was propped languidly against a tree, chin lifted eyes closed as the rays of the sun peeked through the leaves to caress the flesh. She had killed six people since receiving her first order from the organization. This meant they had to be close to fairy tail she knew it.

Lucy almost smiled. All she needed to do was be patient.

"No training today."

Immediately, the slight tilt of her lip fell and she glared with one eye at the person blocking her sun. God, did she hate this arrogant prick but she couldn't deny how entertaining he was. "What does it look like?"

Natsu smirked mischievously. "I'd say it looks like the kitten has finally regained their claws."

Lucy closed her eye. He really was an idiot.

Suddenly fingers were grasping her chin and the blonde's eyes flew opened abruptly. "Don't look so alarm." Natsu was stooping over her, gazing at her with intense eyes.

Oddly enough her heart skipped a beat and she growled. "What are you doing?"

"I'd say admiring except I don't think there's anything appealing about you." He grinned and Lucy raised a hand to slap him only to have him grab her wrist. "At least not personally. On the outside you're quite the looker." He tilted her chin to the side. "But I can't figure out why you don't smile."

Lucy's eyes widened slightly. Natsu released her and stood.

"What's there to smile about?" she glared.

Momentarily, the grin on his face fell and his face softened a few seconds afterwards. "You got to meet me, didn't you?" he asked playfully and she scoffed. "I'm flattered, I really am, Natsu."

For some reason the pink hair froze. Lucy glanced up at him when she noticed the unexpected silence only to still. His eyes had turned red again and he gave her an amused smirk. "Don't look so frightened, Lucy. That hurts you know when you look at me like that?"

Closing her parted lips, she glowered. "Why do your eyes change color? Are you not human?"

Natsu chuckled darkly. Lucy found her back being pushed softly to the ground as Natsu hovered above her. Her eyes widened when she realized she hadn't noticed what happened until the pink head was leaning into her so that his mouth hovered closely above her throat.

"Natsu!"

"I told you, didn't I."

Lucy raised her hands to slap him only to have him capture them as he pinned them to either side of her face. "Get. Of. Off. Me."

"That's a turn on."

"What? So your eyes change color when you lust for blood or the touch of a woman!"

A chuckle. "Not just any woman." Suddenly he was standing; eyes no longer the color of blood but back to an onyx texture. He outstretched a hand. "You've been here for six months and yet you've never smiled." He glanced down at her with a sort of deep in thought look. "It's a turn off ya know. When a woman doesn't smile."

Lucy merely smacked his hand away. "Who could smile in your presence?" she muttered, eyes focused on the grass. If she had looked she would have noticed just for a minute how his face had tightened but softened soon afterwards. "Walk with me, Lucy."

Lucy merely stared up at him. Nothing was wrong with stretching her limbs; not to mention perhaps the forest lead to other places she wasn't aware of. "Lead the way." She tried to push the questions she had about the red head, she tried to push her curiosity but for some reason this closet killer was beginning to appeal and interest her instincts.

"So un-lady like."

Lucy sneered. "What did you say?"

Natsu grinned. "Nothing." He turned and headed into the forest with Lucy following closely behind him.

He was wearing a black kimono today with some type of silver chain around his neck. He didn't have his sword on him today. For a few minutes there was nothing but silence and then eventually Natsu began to explain all the different plants and creatures of the forest to her. There were a few times her eyes seemed trapped in the beauty around them and yes her lips did part a few times. Each time she would catch Natsu considering her much to her annoyance but she couldn't deny the fact that once again his heated looks were causing something to stir within her. If she weren't so broken and if he didn't piss her off so often, maybe she would have slept with him. Better yet, if she were more normal she could see herself settling down with him, which was strange. Lucy mentally shook her head. What the hell was she thinking? She hated this jerk and why the hell was he still staring at her?

Lucy soon got tired of his blatant staring so she spun around to send a murderous glare his way. "What!"

Natsu frowned at her but his eyes glinted with amusement as he tilted his head. "What?"

"This. You've been staring at me for a while now and have not at least tried to hide it. Is there something wrong with my face!?"

Natsu chuckled softly. "You're really stupid, aren't you Luigi?"

Lucy aimed a kick at him and Natsu merely grabbed it. "What's wrong with me looking at you?"

"It's annoying."

Natsu's eyes lowered. "Has no man never looked at you?"

Lucy's face heated and she lowered her gaze.

Natsu tilted his head curiously. "The real you?"

"Men look at me all the time." She huffed as he released her foot. "It's just…" Her nose scrunched and she missed the way he approached her with that predator like instinct.

"Just?"

Lucy struggled to find words. "No one has ever looked at me like that. You know there was no lust in your eyes. It's annoying."

Lucy's eyes widened as she realized how close he was. She flinched when she felt his hands moving strands of hair to behind her ear.

"Natsu, what are you…"

"Why does me looking at you annoy you?"

Lucy glared again. "Natsu, I'm giving you ten seconds to back away from me before I knee you in your most private of areas and trust me you won't enjoy it."

Natsu chuckled again. "You really are funny, Luigi." A pause. "You should smile more…" Then it happened. His eyes darkened and he roughly forced her chin upwards with his knuckles. "Instead of staining your hands in blood."

"What are you talk—"

Natsu appeared angry.

"You think none of us would know what you were doing! Are you stupid, Lucy! What the fuck were you thinking?!"

Lucy stepped back. "What are you talking about?"

Natsu took a step forward. "The killings. Are you being hired again?"

"Natsuuuuuu!" exclaimed an excited voice. Quickly the pinkette pulled away, glowering darkly at her and missing the way she froze up like a deer caught in a trap. "This isn't over," he sneered for her ears only.

A white haired woman suddenly appeared from behind the trees, grabbing hold of the boy and hugging him. "What the…."

Lucy blinked. Huh?

Natsu quickly escaped the hold of the woman and glared. "Mira, what are you?"

The woman grinned. "That's how you greet me after six months."

Natsu glared and Mira merely smiled. "Someone wants to see you."

"Natsu," a voice murmured and the pinkette quickly spun around to see a woman with short white hair and bandages around her eyes standing next to a giant of a man.

His eyes widened slightly. "Lissanna…."

Lucy felt out of the loop. What was going on?

After a hot cup of coffee and provided all the customers no longer required any further servicing, the gang sat within a small room with Lucy leaning against the shoji with her hands crossed.

There was mindless chatter and a lot of pleasantries were exchanged but Lucy could tell something was wrong. It felt tense. As if something was being held back. She sighed. "If you guys want me to leave just say it."

Erza smiled softly. "No. We wanted you here. After all you are now apart of our family."

Lucy couldn't help but to roll her eyes.

"Lissanna, Mira, this is Lucy. We found her a few months ago washed up on the shores of a small river."

Mirajane's eyes sparked mysteriously before they soothed into that of kindness. "Oh my. Are you alright now?"

Lucy nodded stiffly.

"Lucy, this is Lissanna and Mirajane. Friends."

Lucy nodded again but this time her focus was on the bandages. Where did she get those?

"They use to work here. But their brother found work elsewhere. Not to mention they left in order to gain treatment for Lissanna. She got into a terrible accident a few years ago," Erza explained.

Lissanna smiled kindly and when she smiled Lucy felt her chest tightened. There was no malice or suspicion in that smile. Who was this stunning woman?

More chatter followed and when everyone was inside holding a feast for the two white haired women Lucy sat on the porch, eyes glancing coldly up into the sky.

What was this feeling in her chest?

"Why aren't you enjoying the feast, Lucy?"

Lucy sighed annoyed. Great. It was her least favorite person.

"What do you think, Natsu?" she snapped.

He was standing next to her, one hand in his black kimono. A brow arched. "You don't really want me to answer that?"

Lucy's chin dropped. "I'm not hungry and if you don't mind I'd like to be left alone."

He settled besides her instead. "You're always alone."

"Maybe because I like it!"

An innocent tilt of the head. "You don't seem like the kind of person who would."

"And what the hell do you know about me?"

Silence then a whisper "a lot"

Lucy snapped to face him. "What did you say?"

The man blinked slowly, confused then his face softened. "Lissanna was there ten years ago, you know."

Lucy's eyes bulged. "What…"

"The war. She use to teach at a small school. The shogunate's allies thought the school was allied with Fairy Tail. They killed almost every child. Lissanna suffered the blow trying to protect them."

"The shogunate murdered children." She snorted. "Preposterous. If anyone who would have done the murdering it would have had to been fairy tail."

"You seem to hate them?"

"And what if I do?"

Natsu stared at her thoughtfully and then chuckled softly. "That's going to be a problem then."

Suddenly it happened. Natsu's eyes widened slightly. Quickly he lifted the blonde before dashing to the other side just as flaming arrows landed. Next thing Lucy knew flaming arrows from above were raining down on them.

No.


End file.
